Collapsible chair

ABSTRACT

A collapsible chair having interconnected forward and rearward legs with a chair back element mounted on the rearward legs and a chair seat element mounted solely on the forward legs, the legs being so interconnected as to permit the forward legs to be shifted upwardly along the rearward legs during collapse of the chair so that the seat element is shifted completely upwardly during chair collapse.

United States Patent [1 1 Mackintosh COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR [76] Inventor:Charles Mackintosh, 3838 Oakwood Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.'90004 [22]Filed: May 11, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 252,276

[52] US. Cl 297/35, 297/331, 297/243 [51] Int. Cl. A47c 1/12 [58] Fieldof Search 297/35, 15, 14, 60, 41, 39,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,464,753 9/1969 Van Ryn297/47 X 2,155,522 4/1939 Adler 297/39 I 308,656 12/1884 DuBois 297/41 X1,910,206 5/1933 Fraser 52/9 X 169,748 11/1875 Wakefield 297/35 [4 1Feb. 19,1974

2,975,825 3/1961 Gedris 297/4l FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 701,4311/1941 Germany 297/39 Primary Examiner-Francis K. Zugel Attorney, Agent,or Firm-Watson, Cole, Grindle &

Watson [5 7] ABSTRACT A collapsible chair having interconnected forwardand rearward legs with a chair back element mounted on the rearward legsand a chair seat element mounted solely on the forward legs, the legsbeing so interconnected as to permit the forward legs to be shiftedupwardly along the rearward legs during collapse of the chair so thatthe seat element is shifted completely upwardly during chair collapse.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures fie. 4

sum 2 or 2 PATENTED E 1 9 COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR This invention relatesgenerally to a collapsible chair wherein the seat portion is shiftedupwardly during the chair collapse. More particularly, the inventionrelates to a collapsible chair, or a foldable grandstand chair,

wherein the chair is fully collapsed during folding movement of agrandstand.

Heretofore, chairs mounted on foldable grandstands used in auditoriumsand elsewhere are normally of such a bulky construction that it becomesdifficult to collapse the chairs during grandstand folding withoutoccupying an undue amount of floor space. On the other hand, should thechairs be designed specifically for complete collapse within a smallspace, they are many times rendered not only unsightly, but quiteuncomfortable. The present invention avoids these difficulties byproviding a collapsible chair especially for use with a foldablegrandstand wherein the chair not only does not interfere with the foldeddecks of the grandstand,

but it moreover presents an exceptionally good appearance since it doesnot resemble the standard type folding chair.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to devise achair which may be neatly and compactly collapsed as its forward legsare shifted upwardly with respect to its rearward legs, the seat elementbeing so attached to the rearward legs that it too moves upwardly duringchair collapse out of interference with the folded grandstand deck.

Another object of this'invention is to provide such a collapsible chairwherein the front and rear chair legs are interconnected by means oflink members which permit such a shifting movement.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a chairwherein the chair back element is pivotally mounted to the rear legs soas to be movable between a vertical position and a rearwardly tiltedposition.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such a chairwherein said bracket plates having elongated openings therein aremounted on the chair back to facilitate its pivotal movement.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such a chairwherein arm rest elements are fixedly secured to the front legs so as tobe also shifted therewith during chair collapse.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide such achair wherein the front legs are pivotally secured to the grandstanddeck which, when folded, serves to shift the front legs upwardly alongthe rear legs into the collapsed position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such a collapsiblechair wherein the chair back is pivotally secured at the level of thenext highest grandstand deck so that, when such deck is folded, itserves to move the chair back into a vertical position of complete chaircollapse.

Otherobjects, advantages and novel features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the invention when consideredin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a collapsible chair in accordancewith the present invention in its uncollapsed condition mounted in placeon a grandstand shown only in part;

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 except that the chair is shown in its fullycollapsed condition;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the arrangement taken along the line 33 ofFIG. 1 showing the details of adjacent chairs as they are related to oneanother;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1.

Turning now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views, a collapsiblechair l0 constructed in accordance with the present invention is shownmounted on a grandstand 11, a full deck level of which is shown in FIGS.1 and 2 along with a portion of a higher deck level. Vertical uprights12 and 120 of the grandstand comprise the rear legs for the respectivechairs along each grandstand tier. Adjacent uprights in each row (onlyone of which is shown in FIG. 3) are designated a, etc. A foldable deckextends between uprights 12 and 120 as shown in FIG. 1, the deckcomprising sections 13a and 13b hinged together by means of hinges 14aand 14b such that the hinge plates of each are secured respectively tothe under sides of sections 13a and 13b and to the side walls of atubular transverse support structure 15. The opposite ends of each decksection are hingedly secured by means of hinges 16a, 16b to theirrespective uprights 120 and 12. The next higher deck section 113a ishingedly secured by means of binge 116a to the uprights 12, 12a, etc. Ofcourse, the grandstand platform at each level is repeated for levelshigher and lower than that shown in FIG. 1, it being understood thatFIG. 1 is exemplary only of a typical grandstand tier at a single level.

Front legs 19 and 19a for each chair are channelshaped in cross section,as shown in FIG. 3, and the lower ends of each are pivotally secured asat 21 to the deck section 13b between the section ends. A front leg 19is associated with its rear leg or upright 12 and is connected therewithby means of link members 22, 122 extending between a bolt 23 locatednear the top of uprights 12 and bolt 24 located on leg 19 as shown inFIG. 5. Each link member 22, 122 is disposed along the inner sides ofthe channel legs of member 19.

Link members 22a, 222 serve to interconnect forward leg 19a with upright12a in the same manner as described with reference to legs 12 and 19.These two pair of interconnected leg members therefore define chair 10which istypical for an adjacent chair sharing legs 12 and 19, and whichis alsotypical for an adjacent chair 200 sharing legs 12a, 19a.Obviously, other adjacent chairs are provided for each row of thegrandstand and are each typically constructed in accordance with theFIG. 3 showing.

A chair back element 25, which may be cushioned or upholstered orfinished in some other manner, spans an adjacent pair of rear legs 12,12a for each chair and is secured to each rear leg by means of bolts 23,23a and bolts 26, 26a. A side bracket plate 27, 27a is secured in anyconventional manner to the rear surface of back element 25 alongopposite sides thereof as shownin FIG. 3. An elongated slightly arcuateopening 128, 28, 28a, 228 (only one of which is conveniently shown inFIG. 1) is respectively provided in bracket plates 127, 27, 27a, 227.The bracket plates 127, 27, 127a, 227 are secured to their respectivefront legs 19, 19a along opposite sides of each thereof. FIG. 4illustrates the manner of pivotally securing bracket plates 127, 27 toforward leg 12 by means of bolt 26. With such a construction, the seatback element 25 may be moved between its rearwardly tilted positionshown in FIG. 1 and forwardly toward a vertically upright position asshown in FIG. 2. Obviously, the elongated openings provided in each ofthe bracket plates facilitate movement of the chair back elementsbetween these two positions as the side bracket plates slide along bolts23.

A chair seat element 29 spans an adjacent pair of forward legs 19, 19aand is secured thereto by means of bracket plates 31. Such plates, (onlyone of which is shown) may be each provided with protuberances 32 fixedalong the inner surfaces thereof for cooperation with protuberances30,30 fixed on the opposite sides of the seat to thereby maintain theseat in its unfolded position as shown in FIG. 1. Of course, the chairseat element 29 is movable to a position lying parallel to the frontlegs 19 in a collapsed condition of the chair, as shown in FIG. 2.

An upholstered or otherwise covered arm rest element 33 (only one ofwhich is shown) is fixedly secured as by welding to the upper end ofeach forward leg so as to be fully movable therewith during chaircollapse.

Operation of the collapsible chair is as follows with reference to FIGS.1 and 2: A folding of the grandstand at each deck level causes theuprights or rear legs 120 to be moved toward the rear legs 12 as thedeck sections 13b and 13a of a typical grandstand deck 11 are foldedalong transverse support strut 15. As deck section 13b pivotally movesupwardly about its hinge 16b, it carries with it the forward legs 19,19a for a typical chair 100 (and for the remaining chairs in the row)and causes these legs to shift upwardly along their respective rearwardlegs 12, 12a. During such upwardly shifting movement, the forward legspivot about bolts 23 and 24 and about hinge 21 so as to be moved from aposition as shown in FIG. 1 to the position of full chair collapse asshown in FIG. 2. Since both the seat element 29 and the arm rests 33 aremounted solely on the forward legs 19, 19a, they too are shiftedupwardly and, in the process the chair seat element 29 is caused to bepivoted into a substantially vertical position as shown in FIG. 2. Whenthe chair is fully collapsed, it can be seen from FIG. 2 that the bottomof the chair seat element 29 has cleared the folded deck sections 13a,13b so as to completely avoid any interference" therewith. Consequently,the chair seat element and the fixed arm rests are shifted upwardlycompletely out of interference with the folded deck sections of thegrandstand tier 11. This is a typical collapsing arrangement for theremaining chairs at the grandstand level 11 as well as for all theremaining levels of a multi-tiered grandstand.

As the folding of the grandstand continues after the chairs at level 11have been collapsed as abovedescribed, the next highest tier behind thechair shown in FIG. 1 is of course collapsed in a similar manner. Forexample, deck section 113a pivots upwardly about its hinge 116a and, inthe process of so doing, moves from a position shown in phantom to thatshown in full lines in FIG. 2 to thereby cause the chair back elements25 to be pivotally moved about bolts 26 toward uprights 12 and into asubstantially vertical position as shown in FIG. 2. The chair istherefore fully collapsed and by reason of its unique constructionoccupies a minimum amount of space on the folded grandstand.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that a collapsible chair for agrandstand has been devised which uses a minimum number of connectionpoints for assembling the chair and, when collapsed, occupies a minimumamount of space thereby enhancing both the practicality and the economyof both the construction and the operation of the arrangement. The chairseat is folded to a position as near as possible to the back seatelement of each chair which is of a simple yet durable and safe designfor auditorium and other uses. The arm rests for each chair are weldedor otherwise fixedly secured directly to the front chair legs themselvesthereby further enhancing the rigidity of the arrangement. To avoid theappearance of a folding arrangement, the link members 22 are eachdisposed between the rear legs and the forward legs of each chair so asto be completely hidden from the viewer. Also, the forward legscompletely cover the upper portions of their respective rearward legswhen lowered into the position as shown in FIG. 1. Additional lateralsupport and rigidity is therefore conveniently achieved. The hinge plate21 for the lower portion of the vertical chair legs which is attached toeach deck level of the arrangement is continuous and extends betweenadjacent forward legs of the chair in order to provide greater strength,permanency and rigidity for the hinge.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A collapsible chair comprising, interconnected forward and rear legs,said forward legs being channel shaped in cross-section and openingtoward said rear legs, link members interconnecting said legs together,each said respective link members being pivotally secured at one end toeach said rear leg near one end thereof, the other end of each saidrespective link members being pivotally secured to each said forward legat the inner sidewalls thereof and between the ends thereof, a chairback mounted on said rear legs, brackets on said forward legs, a chairseat located between said brackets and being pivotally connectedthereto, stop elements lying in a horizontal plane on opposite sides ofsaid chair seat and extending toward said respective brackets and beingdisposed on opposite sides of the pivotal connection of said chair seat,other stop elements on said respective brackets extending toward saidrespective sides of said chair seat, the forward and rear ones of saidother stop elements being in contacting engagement with and lyingrespectively below and above said stop elements on said opposite sidesof said pivotal connection when said chair seat is in a substantiallyhorizontal position, said contacting stop elements serving to solelysupport said chair seat in its horizontal position, and said linkmembers permitting said forward legs to be pivoted upwardly with respectto said rear legs until said link members and a portion of said rearlegs are received within the open channels of said forward legs.

2. The collapsible chair according to claim 1 wherein said chair back ispivotally connected at the lower end thereof to said rear legs, bracketplates on opposite sides of said chair back and having arcuate openingstherein, said bracket plates extending forwardly of said chair back,bolt means securing said chair back to said rear legs through saidarcuate openings, whereby said chair back is movable about its pivotalconnection between a rearwardly inclined position and a position lyingcoaxial with said rear legs.

3. A collapsible chair according to claim 2 wherein a chair arm memberextending forwardly of said forward legs is fixedly secured to each ofsaid forward legs at the top ends there.

4. A collapsible chair for a foldable grandstand comprising,interconnected forward and rear legs, said forward legs beingchannel-shaped in cross-section and opening toward said rear legs, linkmembers interconnecting said legs together, each said respective linkmembers being pivotally secured at one end to each said rear leg nearone end thereof, the other end of each said respective link membersbeing pivotally secured to each said forward leg at the inner sidewallsthereof and between the ends thereof, a chair back mounted on said rearlegs, brackets on said forward legs, a chair seat located between saidbrackets and being pivotally connected thereto, stop elements lying in ahorizontal plane on opposite sides of said chair seat and extendingtoward said respective brackets and being disposed on opposite sides ofthe pivotal connection said chair seat, other stop elements on saidrespective brackets extending toward said respective sides of said chairseat, the forward and rear ones of said other stop elements being incontacting engagement with and lying respectively below and above saidstop elements on said opposite sides of said pivotal connection whensaid chair seat is in a substantially horizontal position, saidcontacting stop elements serving to solely support said chair seat inits horizontal position, a stepped foldable grandstand constituted by aseries of multi-level decks, one of said decks being hingedly secured tosaid rear legs, said forward legs being hingedly secured to said onedeck, each said deck being upwardly foldable between its ends so thatwhen said one deck is folded upwardly between its ends, said forwardlegs are shifted upwardly with respect to said rear legs until said linkmembers and a portion of said rear legs are received within the openchannels of said forward legs.

5. The collapsible chair according to claim 4 wherein said chair back ispivotally connected at the lower end thereof to said rear legs, bracketplates on opposite sides of said chair back and having arcuate openingstherein, said bracket plates extending forwardly of said chair back,bolt means securing said chair back to said rear legs through saidarcuate openings, whereby said chair back is movable about its pivotalconnection between a rearwardly inclined position and a position lyingcoaxial with said rear legs.

6. The collapsible chair according to claim 5 wherein said back elementis pivotally secured at one end to said rear legs at a level of theadjacent next higher grandstand deck, whereby said back element ismovable to said coaxial position by said adjacent deck during thefolding thereof.

7. The collapsible chair according to claim 4 wherein a chair arm memberextending forwardly of said for-- ward legs is fixedly secured to eachof said forward legs at the top ends thereof.

1. A collapsible chair comprising, interconnected forward and rear legs,said forward legs being channel-shaped in crosssection and openingtoward said rear legs, link members interconnecting said legs together,each said respective link members being pivotally secured at one end toeach said rear leg near one end thereof, the other end of each saidrespective link members being pivotally secured to each said forward legat the inner sidewalls thereof and between the ends thereof, a chairback mounted on said rear legs, brackets on said forward legs, a chairseat located between said brackets and being pivotally connectedthereto, stop elements lying in a horizontal plane on opposite sides ofsaid chair seat and extending toward said respective brackets and beingdisposed on opposite sides of the pivotal connection of said chair seat,other stop elements on said respective brackets extending toward saidrespective sides of said chair seat, the forward and rear ones of saidother stop elements being in contacting engagement with and lyingrespectively below and above said stop elements on said opposite sidesof said pivotal connection when said chair seat is in a substantiallyhorizontal position, said contacting stop elements serving to solelysupport said chair seat in its horizontal position, and said linkmembers permitting said forward legs to be pivoted upwardly with respectto said rear legs until said link members and a portion of said rearlegs are received within the open channels of said forward legs.
 2. Thecollapsible chair according to claim 1 wherein said chair back ispivotally connected at the lower end thereof to said rear legs, bracketplates on opposite sides of said chair back and having arcuate openingstherein, said bracket plates extending forwardly of said chair back,bolt means securing said chair back to said rear legs through saidarcuate openings, whereby said chair back is movable about its pivotalconnection between a rearwardly inclined position and a position lyingcoaxial with said rear legs.
 3. A collapsible chair according to claim 2wherein a chair arm member extending forwardly of said forward legs isfixedly secured to each of said forward legs at the top ends there.
 4. Acollapsible chair for a foldable grandstand comprising, interconnectedforward and rear legs, said forward legs being channel-shaped incross-section and opening toward said rear legs, link membersinterconnecting said legs together, each said respective link membersbeing pivotally secured at one end to each said rear leg near one endthereof, the other end of each said respective link members beingpivotally secured to each said forward leg at the inner sidewallsthereof and between the ends thereof, a chair back mounted on said rearlegs, brackets on said forwarD legs, a chair seat located between saidbrackets and being pivotally connected thereto, stop elements lying in ahorizontal plane on opposite sides of said chair seat and extendingtoward said respective brackets and being disposed on opposite sides ofthe pivotal connection of said chair seat, other stop elements on saidrespective brackets extending toward said respective sides of said chairseat, the forward and rear ones of said other stop elements being incontacting engagement with and lying respectively below and above saidstop elements on said opposite sides of said pivotal connection whensaid chair seat is in a substantially horizontal position, saidcontacting stop elements serving to solely support said chair seat inits horizontal position, a stepped foldable grandstand constituted by aseries of multi-level decks, one of said decks being hingedly secured tosaid rear legs, said forward legs being hingedly secured to said onedeck, each said deck being upwardly foldable between its ends so thatwhen said one deck is folded upwardly between its ends, said forwardlegs are shifted upwardly with respect to said rear legs until said linkmembers and a portion of said rear legs are received within the openchannels of said forward legs.
 5. The collapsible chair according toclaim 4 wherein said chair back is pivotally connected at the lower endthereof to said rear legs, bracket plates on opposite sides of saidchair back and having arcuate openings therein, said bracket platesextending forwardly of said chair back, bolt means securing said chairback to said rear legs through said arcuate openings, whereby said chairback is movable about its pivotal connection between a rearwardlyinclined position and a position lying coaxial with said rear legs. 6.The collapsible chair according to claim 5 wherein said back element ispivotally secured at one end to said rear legs at a level of theadjacent next higher grandstand deck, whereby said back element ismovable to said coaxial position by said adjacent deck during thefolding thereof.
 7. The collapsible chair according to claim 4 wherein achair arm member extending forwardly of said forward legs is fixedlysecured to each of said forward legs at the top ends thereof.